Micro Center vs OCZ flash drives: speed, quality, price?

TK9K1 · 10-30-2009, 10:21 PM

I'm looking for a high capacity (8 to 16GB) USB flash drive for storing bootable OSes, portable apps, utilities, and deployable software on.

My primary criteria is that it's fast, and inexpensive. In terms of quality I don't care too much for physical build quality, as long as I know the chips aren't going to wear out or die on me for no reason: I'll be modding the drive, so I just want the internal workings to last.

I noticed that OCZ has some enticing offerings, such as these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227333
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227332

What I'm wondering is if they're going to be any faster (or slower) than the el-cheapo in-house brand drives sold at the local Micro Center (I can't seem to find an ad on their site, but they're maybe a few bucks cheaper than the OCZ ones are at their sale price) and if I should expect the chips in them to last longer (or die quicker).

I'm hoping to pick up a couple of them and mod them (pull the enclosures off and refit the circuit board in a custom enclosure) so any insight from people who have owned the OCZs on how hard they might be to take apart would also be appreciated.

**Tyree** · 10-31-2009, 08:56 AM

I've had a LOT of thumb drives and I have had the best luck (reliability-durability-support) with SanDisk brand. I assume many are made by one company and rebranded.
NONE are as reliable as a hard disk and are not to be relied upon for storing important/value data.

TK9K1 · 10-31-2009, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyree

I've had a LOT of thumb drives and I have had the best luck (reliability-durability-support) with SanDisk brand. I assume many are made by one company and rebranded.
NONE are as reliable as a hard disk and are not to be relied upon for storing important/value data.

I will have the data backed up, but longevity is important to me nonetheless; I don't want to have to replace my drives frequently, especially if I'm investing a lot of time and money into modding and configuring them to my needs.

Speed is probably the second most important factor following reliability... how do the sandisk ones generally measure up?

**Tyree** · 10-31-2009, 09:50 AM

I've never seen a noticeable speed difference in any of the brands I've owned.
If longevity & speed are your primary concerns I would suggest purchasing a 2.5" Hdd & enclosure. Thumb drives can not be relied upon in my experience.
Apricorn enclosures are the best that I've used.

TK9K1 · 10-31-2009, 12:13 PM

I need it to be fast, bootable... IIRC USB HDDs don't qualify for either of the above.

10-30-2009, 10:21 PM	#1 (permalink)
TK9K1 Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 27 OS: XPSP3/Windows 7 RC1	Micro Center vs OCZ flash drives: speed, quality, price? I'm looking for a high capacity (8 to 16GB) USB flash drive for storing bootable OSes, portable apps, utilities, and deployable software on. My primary criteria is that it's fast, and inexpensive. In terms of quality I don't care too much for physical build quality, as long as I know the chips aren't going to wear out or die on me for no reason: I'll be modding the drive, so I just want the internal workings to last. I noticed that OCZ has some enticing offerings, such as these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227333 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227332 What I'm wondering is if they're going to be any faster (or slower) than the el-cheapo in-house brand drives sold at the local Micro Center (I can't seem to find an ad on their site, but they're maybe a few bucks cheaper than the OCZ ones are at their sale price) and if I should expect the chips in them to last longer (or die quicker). I'm hoping to pick up a couple of them and mod them (pull the enclosures off and refit the circuit board in a custom enclosure) so any insight from people who have owned the OCZs on how hard they might be to take apart would also be appreciated.

10-31-2009, 08:56 AM	#2 (permalink)
Tyree Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: May 2009 Location: Illinois Posts: 5,410 OS: XP Pro-7RC-Mandriva My System	Re: Micro Center vs OCZ flash drives: speed, quality, price? I've had a LOT of thumb drives and I have had the best luck (reliability-durability-support) with SanDisk brand. I assume many are made by one company and rebranded. NONE are as reliable as a hard disk and are not to be relied upon for storing important/value data. __________________ Posting your PC specs will help us to help you quicker and more efficiently.

10-31-2009, 09:50 AM	#4 (permalink)
Tyree Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: May 2009 Location: Illinois Posts: 5,410 OS: XP Pro-7RC-Mandriva My System	Re: Micro Center vs OCZ flash drives: speed, quality, price? I've never seen a noticeable speed difference in any of the brands I've owned. If longevity & speed are your primary concerns I would suggest purchasing a 2.5" Hdd & enclosure. Thumb drives can not be relied upon in my experience. Apricorn enclosures are the best that I've used. __________________ Posting your PC specs will help us to help you quicker and more efficiently.

10-31-2009, 12:13 PM	#5 (permalink)
TK9K1 Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 27 OS: XPSP3/Windows 7 RC1	Re: Micro Center vs OCZ flash drives: speed, quality, price? I need it to be fast, bootable... IIRC USB HDDs don't qualify for either of the above.